Flight Safety Information
July 13, 2012 - No. 143
In This Issue
Private jet crash kills three Americans in France (Gulfstream IV)
ARGUS PROS Aviation Auditing
Private jet crash kills three Americans in France (Gulfstream IV)
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - Three Americans were killed on Friday when their private jet
broke up and burst into flames on landing at an airport in the south of France, officials
said.
Emergency services battled to put out the blazing twin-engined Gulfstream IV at
Castellet airport, between the Mediterranean cities of Marseille and Toulon.
The dead are two men aged 24 and 60 and a woman aged 30, local police said, adding
that all were American.
The plane crashed on landing at the private airport at Castellet after flying from Nice, an
air safety official said.
"The plane broke in two, one bit ended up in the lake at the end of the runway and the
other bit caught fire," another official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
"We saw a big grey plane that made a lot of noise before crashing," said Florent Picaud,
who works near the airport.
"There was a big cloud of smoke and flames coming from the plane. The emergency
services arrived very quickly, it was impressive," he said.
*************
Official: 3 Americans die as private jet crashes in France
Paris (CNN) -- Three Americans died when a private jet crashed at a small airport in the
south of France, a local official said Friday.
Two men, aged 24 and 51, and a 30-year-old woman were on board the plane when it
crashed at Castellet airport, said Didier Couve, spokesman for the Prefecture of the Var
department.
The three were the only people on the plane, Couve said.
A spokeswoman for the airport said emergency services are on site.
The plane crashed at the end of the runway, she said.
The aerodrome is between the cities of Marseille and Toulon, on the Mediterranean
coast.
**************
Status:
Preliminary
Date:
13 JUL 2012
Time:
15:24
Type:
Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream IV
Operator:
Universal Jet Aviation
Registration:
N823GA
C/n / msn:
1005
First flight:
1987
Engines:
2 Rolls Royce 611 Tay
Crew:
Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:
Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:
Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Airplane damage:
Written off
Airplane fate:
Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:
Le Castellet Airport (CTT) (France)
Phase:
Approach (APR)
Nature:
Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:
Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) (NCE/LFMN), France
Destination airport:
Le Castellet Airport (CTT) (CTT/LFMQ), France
Narrative:
A Gulfstream corporate jet was destroyed when it crashed at Le Castellet Airport (CTT),
France. All three occupants were killed.
The airplane broke in two as it crashed near the runway end. One part ended up in a
small pond, probably at the end of runway 13, the other part caught fire.
www.aviation-safety.net
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC